The LORD has given him over to the lion, which has mauled him and killed him, as the word of the LORD had warned him. — 1 Kings 13:26
If you meditate on this chapter, you can probably come up with several reasons why God did what he did, but I’m going to focus on just one of them: God hates second-hand religion.
Remember junior high school? Boy likes girl. Boy is too chicken to tell girl. Boy makes discreet inquiries to see if maybe girl likes boy. Pretty soon there are layers and layers of people between boy and girl.
That might work for junior high, but it doesn’t work in the adult world. If I had to ask some guy what my wife thinks, that would only make me angry. I have a relationship with her and I don’t need, nor want, any go-betweens.
The man of God let a word from someone else supersede the word he received from God.
It’s good to get counsel from others, but there’s no substitute for building your own relationship with God. Your pastor, your friend, some prophet, no other Christian has a pipeline to God for you. When you became a child of God, you got your own pipeline to God, and God wants you to use it.
God wants a direct relationship with you. Everything else is just frosting on the cake.
And I think this is good news. God cares enough about you, about me, to want a direct line of communication between us and God. You are not an underling far down on the organizational chart. You are His son or daughter, and He wants to sit down and talk with you.
Be encouraged!
Dwight
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Dwight Clough is the author of four Christian books and is an active member of Lake City Church in Madison. This devotional is also available via email and you may review the archives back to 2002. To contact Dwight or Kim, use their contact form. You may also support their ministry.